Tag Archives: Friday Friends

I had been writing for quite a while, doing OK at it. I was nominated for an award along with two other authors for an anthology we had done. Unfortunately, I had hurt my knee and couldn’t go. My husband went in my place. Little did I know how much that weekend would change my life.

When he got home Sunday, I was greeted with, “Honey I have to write a book.” I should have known he’d be bitten by the bug sooner or later. He had sat next to an editor at lunch and he told her about an idea for a book. Something he hadn’t even told me at that point. The book was about the life of Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes nemesis.

OK, this was going to take some adjusting, especially since we were both working what we called “Rent Paying Jobs” For more than 10 years I had been the only writer in the family. At least I knew what to expect and could help him.

Luckily we each had our own computer, for years we shared one. Our reference books began breeding, Everything was doubled, computer paper, ink, memberships to writers groups and conferences.
We each are the others first editor. I have GDS(grammar difficulty syndrome) and he helps correct my mistakes. I on the other hand try to control his tendency to info dump.
We basically write differently, not just genres but style, he is more formal than I am. I have to remind him to use contractions.
A former research librarian, he has helped me research many things. He may not know something, but he does know where to find out about it. We’ve plotted while grocery shopping, swimming, on the bus, in the car. One day we were going to visit my dad and had stopped for lunch at a small cafe. We were on Cape Cod. Before we had stopped at the restaurant I asked him, what would you do if a revolutionary war soldier suddenly showed up and started shooting at these machines he knows nothing about. We were off, what would he wear, what would he think? How he would talk? As we entered the cafe we had begun talking about guns. My husband inherited his fathers love of military history and knowledge of guns. The cafe was quiet, it was late afternoon and an elderly couple came in and sat at the table next to us. After a few minutes of listening to us they very quietly got up and walked to the other side of the room. We were probably lucky they didn’t decide to call the police on us.
However, a second writer in the house also means, you don’t have to explain your strangeness to him. When he comes home you greet him with” _______(insert character name) decided to talk to me today.” He doesn’t look at you like you’re totally crazy.
Its nice to have someone to bounce things off, who is right there, it’s can be a blessing. As long as they are truthful.
A two writer family, whether its husband and wife, parent and son or daughter, is like a marriage. It takes understanding, trust, honesty and love.

One of the biggest issues authors of urban fantasy and paranormal books have is making it believable. Sure the reader wants to believe in shifters, vampires, ghosts and magical powers, but you the author still have to make it believable. You have to create the rules and maintain consistency within your work. It’s little things that make it work: the ease with which truths are revealed, small steps or precautions that are taken, and making that blend with the world we live in.
One of the best examples I have seen of this is in the movie Troll Hunter. It’s a Norwegian film done in documentary style, so it starts off kind of slow, but this is where the world building begins. A man who claims to be a troll hunter for the government is being interviewed by a college film student. Slowly this world that no one knows about opens up.
By the end of the movie I was convinced there were trolls in Norway, which is why I believe all urban fantasy and paranormal authors should watch it.
Do you have a movie that blew you away with how real the paranormal elements were?

Alica McKenna Johnson dreams of living on a clothing-optional beach where lovely men of many ethnic backgrounds bring her drinks and rub her feet, while wearing a variety of kilts and skirts (optional, of course). When on the verge of a nervous breakdown she plots her escape from exercise, gathers her sweats, and fills out applications to become the creepy night lady at the Circle K.

Alica lives in Tucson, Arizona with her very understanding husband, two to eleven children, depending on the time of day, and her daughter’s minions–aka the fish. Instead of collecting stamps–BORING–Alica collects sexy men in kilts. Hey, her husband is VERY understanding. At least Alica no longer collects them in the basement.

Nothing says green like March! By now, we are so ready for some green! Green is Nature’s way of generating something new. It is fresh and clean, a doorway for artistry and innovation. Green is creativity.

So get your Green on for Wild Creativity this month!

Some Entertaining Stories: What if… this happened? Therefore… that happened! But … this got in the way and … a story ensued!

Some Exciting Fantasy: Just finished my first ghost story! I’m over the moon! What next?

Someplace different: maybe Ireland with its 50 shades of Green! Or Italy with its miles of seacoast and fantastic food!

Have some fun: Golf and March Madness college basketball!

Get some crazy-love: grand kids, children, friends and lovers!

Something Bookish: TFOB – Tucson Festival of Books – come on over for some fun with dozens of authors and thousands of book lovers.
This is my list – you make your own. Pull out your green pens, set up green décor (candles and such), and wrap up in a green scarf to remind yourself to be wildly creative. Be off and running into a green field! Bring a little (or a lot) of Green into your life! You’ll be happier for it!

Mary Tate Engels is the author of more than 33 books. For more see her website www.marytateengels.com .

2,000 to 10,000 – How to write faster, write better, and write more of what you love by Rachel Aaron

Reviewed by Patricia Knoll

Rachel Aaron is the author of Fantasy and Science Fiction novels who quit her job a few years ago to write fulltime and take care of her infant son. While still working at her old job, she managed to write about 2,000 words a day, which isn’t too sappy. When she became a fulltime writer, she expected to have a much higher word count since she had many more hours in which to write, but it didn’t turn out that way. She still was only writing about 2,000 words a day. She set out to discover why and made some interesting discoveries about herself and her writing process.

What she came up with is a triangle of things she must accomplish in order to increase her word count. They are Knowledge, Time, and Enthusiasm.

Knowledge: She learned that her writing pace ground to a halt when she was trying to plot as she wrote, or trying to figure out what should happen next. Her solution was to write down notes of what’s going to happen in each scene before she wrote it. At the beginning of each writing session, she took five minutes to complete a quick description of what she was going to write that day.

Time: Rachel made a spreadsheet (Be still my heart! I adore spreadsheets because they can tell you so much.) She kept track of what time she started writing, what time she stopped, how many words she wrote, and the location where she was writing. She discovered that she wrote best in coffee shops where she didn’t have internet access. She also found out that the longer she wrote, the faster she wrote, and the better she wrote.

Enthusiasm: She realized that she wrote lickety-split on some scenes and others dragged. After thinking about it, she saw that the scenes she’d been looking forward to writing went fast and well, while others, such as descriptions or background, didn’t. She started using her five minute planning session to get excited about the scenes she would be writing that day, finding the fun parts, the hooks, the emotional bits that made it exciting. Those were the things that moved her story forward.

Following the guidelines she set for herself, she has increased her writing production to 10,000 words a day.

Rachel seems to be a very analytical person who figured out what works for her. Those of us who aren’t as analytical can benefit from her hard work to become more productive.

I bought this as an ebook for my Kindle. It’s fast and easy to read, understand, and follow. She has many more hints in the book, talking about characters and three act structure, for example. One of the things I liked best about this book is Rachel’s positive, upbeat tone regarding the whole process of writing. While she doesn’t make it seem easy, with her suggestions, it’s doable and enjoyable.

Meeting Dates 2018

January 27: Julia Quinn
February 24: Dawn Falbe (The Itty Bitty Sh***y Committee - the head we get stuck in and how to get out)
March 24: Denise Agnew (Maintaining Your Creative Life)
April 28: Melinda Curtis (Conflict/Character)
May 19: Author Jennifer Ashley
June 23: Author A.L. Jackson
July 28: National Conference Recap
August 25: Rebekah Ganiere (Villains)
September 22: Deb Dixon SPECIAL EVENT
October 27: AGM/NaNoWriMo Launch
November 17: Kristin Nelson, Literary Agent
December 1: Holiday Party